I'll start this off by saying that while I consider myself a Christian, I do not belong to any denomination as I believe that the pride, egos, priorities, and personalities of many people have corrupted, splintered, and blurred the focus of the Church over the centuries. Basically, Man's influences have caused a single church to be splintered into many different denominations, each with their own focus, standards, and teachings. I don't believe any of them have got it all right.
I am simply a Christian, nothing more, nothing less, and yes I know I'm a bad Christian because I don't belong to your church or agree with everything it teaches. I can live with that and I feel pretty confident that God can as well. I see a few who call themselves Christians (here and in "real life"), and I don't doubt that they are so, after the fashion of whatever denomination they belong, who are the very types of Christians that are responsible for driving more people away from Christianity than all of the demons of Hell ever could.
What do I mean by this? Well, since you asked, I'll tell you. I don't doubt their intententions at all; I'm sure they sincerely mean well. But their attitude, approach, or demeanor leaves a lot to be desired.
Some seem to forget that they are communicating with human beings, or that they themselves are human beings. Those people come across as less than real people. Here's a hint for these folks: real people have a wide variety of interests and in order to communicate with them you can't simply bleat the same message over and over again. It get's tiring to the point that they would rather chase you away with clubs than hear it yet one more time. Get a personality; develop other interests and share them. Show a sincere interest in what others are interested in.
Some come across as pious, selfrighteous bores. They spend far too much time talking about what they do right or what others do wrong, and it's usually far more of the former. Jesus thought very poorly of the Hypocrites because they spent all of their time in public displays of just how righteous they thought they were. One of the greatest characteristics of a Christian is, in my opinion, humility.
Some can't seem to converse with anyone about anything without bringing religion into the conversation. I don't think they truly understand just how much of a put off this really is for most people and is probably one of the greatest things that drives people running and screaming away from Christianity or religion in general. Hey folks, if this is you then you should know that this makes you appear to be a brainwashed, mindless drone who can't function outside of your religion. Shut up already! I believe it was St. Francis of Assisi who said "Preach the Gospel at all times and if necessary, use words". This was meant to be a very important piece of advice. Live it, don't talk about it. I once hired a guy for a short time. Nice enough guy but he couldn't converse with anyone without bringing up God, Jesus, or some other religious reference. I had warned him a couple of times to not talk about religion to the customers, it was a place of business and we had all manner of customers. Well, he finally blew it when he asked a Jewish customer something along the lines of "But you trust in Jesus, right?". The customer was offended, and I fired him on the spot. It's called a time and place for everything, try to take this one to heart unless you are simply determined to chase as many people as possible away from Christianity.
Some are quite aggressive and resort to attacking others. What gives here? This is anything but Christian behavior. Galations 5:22-23 says "...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law". Funny, I don't see the words "attack", "aggressiveness", or "combative" here anywhere. Maybe I missed that part. I enjoy a good debate as much as the next person, but I try to stick to useful tools like facts, logic, humor, and reason. I also debate as a human being, not as a Christian. Do I debate relgious ideas? Sure I do, but I do so as a human being, not as a Christian. If you don't quite understand the difference or the point I'm making here then perhaps you should start reading this article all over again from the beginning.
Ok, now for a few small tips. Do with them what you will (or won't).
1. Communicate with people on their level (lesson from Paul here folks). Don't start quoting scriptures to non-Christians, it's both a waste of time and very,very annoying. Try speaking in human terms for a change.
2. Never, under any circumstances, tell someone "I'm telling you this out of love" and then begin telling them all of the things you think they are doing wrong in their lives. Personally, if I were in their shoes, I'd smack ya a good one and walk off. I know I certainly wouldn't listen. It's human nature. Besides, it just makes you sound like a selfrighteous ass.
3. Try holding a few conversations with people every day, either online or in real life, without bringing up religion at all. It may be hard at first but if you keep trying you may actually start coming across as a real human being for a change.
4. If you are concerned about someone's soul, pray for them. Don't tell them you are going to pray for them, that's offensive as hell whether you believe it or not, just do it and keep your comments to yourself.
5. Try spending some time hanging out where non-Christians hang out. Go out to a local bar or whatever. I know, many of you wouldn't be caught dead in a place like that. Why? Just who do you think Jesus spent most of his time hanging out with? It's right there in Matthew if you care to read it. He was accused of being a drunkard and all sorts of nasty things because of the places He hung out and the people He spent time with. If it's good enough for Jesus, why isn't it good enough for you? Guess what? That's where the sinners are! Or are you more comfortable hanging with the choir? Or maybe you're afraid of what others will think of you just as the Hypocrites were? Hmmmmm?
6. Study other religions and philosophies. You'd be surprised how much you can learn from them and how much many of them have in common with each other and with Christianity. It may help you understand people better. Just do it with an open mind.
7. Get a sense of humor already. God never meant for us to be so damned serious all the time. Even He has a sense of humor; look at the platypus for crying out loud. Or better yet, look in the mirror as that's a great place for anyone to find something to laugh at.
The key here is to try and be someone people would actually like and want to emulate, not some annoyingly mindless drone who has no other life outside of their religion (God never meant for us to live that way anyhow). People do not want to emulate those who annoy them. Get it?
OK, I'm done now. I've been wanting to write this for literally a couple of years now. It's off my chest so you may go back to whatever you were doing.